NJ Girl in Georgia? Advice, please.. (Atlanta, Savannah: fit in, apartment complexes, to rent) - (GA) - City-Data Forum

NJTina · 07-16-2007, 01:36 AM

I am thrilled to have found this site. I am at a crossroad in my life.I am a 50 yr.old divorced, Italian woman born and raised in Jersey. Now that my youngest will be entering college in the fall I can finally make a move for myself and believe me, I will not miss much about NJ. I own a home on the NJ shore with my ex-husband and my desire is to re-locate to a less expensive state and pay cash for a new home. I am on Social Security disability so my income is very fixed. Georgia and the Carolinas hold a lot of appeal to me. However, culturally I am wondering if I will fit in and be happy. Being alone at my age aside from my beloved pets 2 dogs and 2 cats, I am more interested in a small town feeling with perhaps an acre of land and more rural than city, yet on the outskirts of a city for shopping, entertainment, etc. Also, I am a Christian and desire an area with some born again Charasmatic, Pentecostal churches. I am basically an outgoing, friendly type but am concerned I may not fit in. Are there any Italian areas down there? You know with good Italian bread and cheese? What do you all advise? And where can I get more bang for my buck in a houseI ? If not Ga, where else? Any other thoughts? Thanks so much.

mastover · 07-16-2007, 05:50 AM

hi, i see that you posted this in june hopefully you'll get this. i live outside atlanta in Covington, newton county....this use to be a nice small town but the big city has cought up w/ us. my husband and i are also wanting to relocate to get out of the hussle and bussle. one place that i really like is watkinsville out side of athens. pretty much anything outside of athens you'd like. athens has EVERYTHING you could imagine. its a big town but has a small town feel. its a college town. my sister in law lives in jefferson outside of athens and likes it out there. south of atlanta is not as nice in my opion North is very nice....if you like mountains my favorite place is young harris,
Towns county and Union county is very nice but a bit expensive but worth it!
also if you like living close to the coast savannah is beautiful. hope this help.

Padgett2 · 07-16-2007, 09:12 AM

Savannah has a large Italian group. I feel that most of them are Roman Catholic, so it might not be as welcoming as it could be. However, it's a city that might be worth looking at. To get that small city feeling, you could find a lot of small towns that are adjcent to Savannah like Pooler, Rincon, Thunderbolt (no chance of acerage in Thunderbolt, but big Italian group) or Bloomingdale.

Carat98 · 07-16-2007, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJTina

I am thrilled to have found this site. I am at a crossroad in my life.I am a 50 yr.old divorced, Italian woman born and raised in Jersey. Now that my youngest will be entering college in the fall I can finally make a move for myself and believe me, I will not miss much about NJ. I own a home on the NJ shore with my ex-husband and my desire is to re-locate to a less expensive state and pay cash for a new home. I am on Social Security disability so my income is very fixed. Georgia and the Carolinas hold a lot of appeal to me. However, culturally I am wondering if I will fit in and be happy. Being alone at my age aside from my beloved pets 2 dogs and 2 cats, I am more interested in a small town feeling with perhaps an acre of land and more rural than city, yet on the outskirts of a city for shopping, entertainment, etc. Also, I am a Christian and desire an area with some born again Charasmatic, Pentecostal churches. I am basically an outgoing, friendly type but am concerned I may not fit in. Are there any Italian areas down there? You know with good Italian bread and cheese? What do you all advise? And where can I get more bang for my buck in a houseI ? If not Ga, where else? Any other thoughts? Thanks so much.

Look under the Savannah area posts .....July 8 ........someone posted re: the affordable costs of renting right outside of Savannah. I'm moving back to NJ. after being here almost 3 years. Hope you've done some research before moving. I have family and a big social network back there that I really miss. I don't know anything about the Savannah area.....maybe there are more social activities available for singles there. Best to you.

NJTina · 07-16-2007, 10:29 PM

"I'm moving back to NJ. after being here almost 3 years"

Are you absolutely sure that you want to move back to NJ? Ga. may not be the answer for you, but I can assure you that what's happening in NJ will hold little appeal for you even with family & friends. The taxes are throught the roof as you know, Corzine just raised the income tax to 7%. The traffic while always horrendeous, has gotten even worse if that's possible. The GSP no longer has off-times. Emminent domain is rearing it's ugly head in many towns, especially several shore towns. I could go on and on..

zebbie · 07-18-2007, 08:13 AM

Hi!

You should have NO problem locating (hope these terms are correct) evangelical and Pentacostal Christian churches in rural Georgia. There are Christian churches EVERYWHRE, hundreds and hundreds of 'em. People you encounter, such as on a visit to Georgia to check out moving will be happy to invite you to their church as well. You don't even have to ask, they will just invite you. I mean even the waitresses in coffee shops will invite you to visit their churches. The Italian bread in rural Georgia will be the problem (joke...but true).

If you want a rural area, but near a town, you might want to check out the areas AROUND Forsyth (on the side towards Macon) and Bollingbroke. Forsyth is a town, with a downtown whereas Bollingbroke is more country. From both those places you could go into the NORTH SIDE of Macon for shopping. It's a country drive (unless you choose to take highways). The NORTHSIDE of Macon has a lot of shopping. Macon is supposed to have a good Medical center.

If you want a rural area near these places you're probably talking about an older or historic home, not a newer housing development.

I hope the Forum gives you lots of ideas, I don't think you'd be mistaken in looking at the Piemont areas especially for a church home.

NJTina · 07-19-2007, 11:27 AM

To those that have responded, I thank-you.

Padgett, I looked into all the areas you suggested. I have been gong to Realtor.com and I was a little surprised that the homes aren't as inexpensive as I thought they may be. Are there other sites for housing besides Realtor.com? Renting is unbelievably affordable..I can't believe that you can get a 2 bedroom/2bath with den , fireplace, balcony, pool, tennis courts, etc for $700. Here in Jersey thout would be $2k a month, that's if you could find such a place without having to purchase it. Renting would be an option so I could really get the feel for the area, but with the pets it would be a problem. I will keep you posted. And Zebbie, thank-you for the info about the churches. That is so refreshing to hear. I live in an area where the churches are: 3 Catholic, one Baptist and 1 Lutheran. I only wish someone would invite me to church. Not a priority in this part of NJ thats for sure.

Padgett2 · 07-19-2007, 12:18 PM

Renting with pets could be a problem, but there are apartment complexes that do accept them. It would be wise to rent until you got a feel of the area.

Apartments are very plentiful. Houses are high priced thanks to a boom in making money selling them. The bottom may be falling out of that boom and in a year or so, you could find something much cheaper. Property Tax accessments raise the prices of houses. People think that because the County says the house is worth all that money, then someone will buy it at that price.

There are houses that go for less that 100-150K, in good areas. You just need to be here to shop around a little.

irvm · 07-19-2007, 01:08 PM

Just a thought: have you considered weather? The area from Savannah to Atlanta is not exactly comfortable most of the year. North Ga. and N. Carolina mountains might suit you better. Churches anywhere in the SE won't be a problem. Neither would being Italian

Just don't tell anyone you're from NJ. We'll probably guess that anyway.

atlantagreg30127 · 07-19-2007, 01:55 PM

Savannah is probably the most "cultural" and funky but as others have said, also very hot, humid, and some might dare say in some areas very "ghetto".

Another alternative isn't in Georgia - Asheville, NC. A VERY artsy-craftsy, funky, smaller city but with tons of galleries, museums, restaurants of all sorts, etc. (tourist town but without the tacky tacky tourist stuff). Personally I've move there if I could swing it with my work, which in your case as you said, isn't a priority since you're out of that zone.